At our 2025 Graduation Dinner, Principal Chris Peach honoured the journey of our Year 12 graduates, acknowledging the years of learning, growth, and self-discovery that have shaped them into confident, compassionate and capable young adults. Drawing on Dr Montessori’s vision of adolescent development, he spoke to the qualities our graduates now embody moral strength, adaptability, self-awareness and a deep sense of social responsibility. As they step beyond the College gates, they do so not only as learners but as ambassadors of the Montessori spirit, ready to make a meaningful impact in the world.
Here is his full speech.
Today marks something very special for our six graduates and that is the culmination of years spent on a journey of learning, self-discovery and growth.
Although I do not know you very well and have not spent too much time with you, having only started as Principal at MIC midway through the year, on witnessing your poise and connection with each other at the clap out ceremony yesterday, it was clear to see that you are Montessori educated young adults, and at the level of development that Dr Montessori would refer to as morally, socially conscious individuals who can participate in society.
At yesterday’s clap out, I spoke of the concept of valorisation.
As Dr. Montessori so insightfully observed, education is not just about imparting knowledge but also supporting each child and adolescent to grow into a self-assured, compassionate, and capable individual. And……. above all, the work in a Montessori environment aims at valorisation of the personality.
Valorisation is understood as a sense of self-confidence or a sense of worth or value for having made a contribution to the community. While this is true, it is deeper than that in that it is a lifelong phenomenon that has a great deal to do with the individual’s own acquisition of Independence, self-mastery, and agency by their own efforts, through their own interactions with the environment.
Graduates: your teachers, peers and families have observed this valorisation of your personalities through the many experiences and events you have engaged in at MIC. We are all proud of you and your journeys and for role modelling courage, respect, generosity and integrity for the students of the college. We wish you all the best in the future and for you to have continued valorisation throughout your life.
Dr Montessori wrote about how human potential is maximised in the third plane (12-18 years) and that this results in:
- confidence,
- adaptability,
- self-awareness,
- knowledge connected with experience,
- moral judgement,
- moral strength,
- the capacity to collaborate and problem-solve,
- the ability to be open to the perspectives of others; and
- well-developed communication and association skills.
Your parents see these qualities in you, your peers see this in you (and you are role models for them, students your same age and younger) and your teachers see this in you.
Graduates, you been gifted a beautiful leather bound diary and handcrafted, wooden MIC branded pen. I hope that the leather journal, with its unique texture and “wonderful leather smell,” offers you a sensory experience that digital devices cannot replicate and you use it often and reflect on your MIC days when you do.
Perhaps the handmade pen can inspire creativity and intentionality, turning the act of writing into a ritual for capturing wisdom, memories, or ideas?
Congratulations, class of 2025! You are not just graduates; you are ambassadors of the Montessori spirit, ready to make a positive impact on the world.
Please stay in touch and connected; we would love you to be an integral part of our Montessori alumni for many, many years to come.
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